Let's Play Pretend
by 0xhibiscusx0
Summary: Tezuka Kunimitsu is finally involved in a love web with Seigaku's Vice-Chairperson and Hyotei's Atobe Keigo. Surprise Twists inside.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is _finally_ rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime

Main Pairings [with a **twist**]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada

Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^__^

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns POT.

**Introduction: A Brewing Surprise**

**

* * *

**

**8:00 pm, the night before**

"Kunimitsu!" Ayana called from downstairs.

"Hai?" Tezuka said, lowering the book he was currently reading.

"Come down and put out the trash for me." His mother said.

"Hai." Tezuka said as he went to the kitchen.

In the kitchen, he found his mother marinating something. "What's that for, Okaa-san?" He asked out of curiosity.

"It's for your lunch tomorrow, dear." Ayana replied.

"I see." Tezuka said as he grabbed the black trash bag from the bin.

"Ah, and please check the mailbox for me. I'm afraid I forgot to bring in the mails this morning." Ayana said.

"Hai." Tezuka replied as he closed the door behind him.

Tezuka opened the mailbox as soon as he was done with the trash. He found the electric bill, the water bill and a letter.

"Hm?" Tezuka wondered. "A letter from Paris?" He read the details of the envelope. "Tezuka Kunikazu." His eyebrow raised in puzzlement. His grandfather rarely received letters from the overseas…

Or so he thought.

He shrugged it off and delivered the electric and water bills to his mother.

"Thanks, dear." His mother said as she put the marinated meat in the refrigerator.

Ayana's eyes fell on the letter her son was holding. "What's that?"

"Something for Ojii-san." Tezuka replied.

"Oh. It must be another letter from Europe." Ayana said, cleaning the kitchen counter.

_Another?_ "I'll give this to Ojii-san." He said as he went to the den.

"Hmm…" Ayana smiled. "I wonder…"

oooooo

"Ojii-san." Tezuka said as he knocked on the door twice.

"Come in."

Tezuka slowly opened the door. He silently handed the letter to his grandpa, who was currently reading some files while sipping a hot cup of green tea.

"I'll be going ahead." Tezuka bowed his head slightly and turned to the door.

As he heard the door close, Kunikazu opened the letter. He smiled as his eyes fell on each word. "Things are going to be different for you now, Kunimitsu."


	2. Chapter 2

Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is _finally_ rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime

Main Pairings [with a **twist**]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada

Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^__^

Disclaimer: POT belongs to Konomi Takeshi.

**Chapter 1: A Day in the Life of Tezuka Kunimitsu**

**6:00 AM**

RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGGGGG!

Tezuka groaned and turned off the alarm clock on his bedside table. He reached for his glasses and got off his bed to stretch his muscles. He opened the curtains and allowed the sunshine to enter his room. He got the towel from the rack and proceeded to the bathroom to take an invigorating shower.

To him, this was no more than a daily morning routine. He got used to waking up early, may it be weekdays or weekends. He held the complete balance of his life. He managed to perfect the art of juggling a very busy schedule and still getting enough sleeping hours. No wonder he's got no eye bags, low blood pressure or any other sign of being stressed.

Finally, after 20 minutes in the shower, he got out of the bathroom with only a towel covering the lower part of his body. He dried his hair and then changed into his uniform. He grabbed his tennis bag and went downstairs to eat breakfast.

He set his bag beside him and took a seat on their dining table. His mother, Tezuka Ayana was busy setting the table with their usual breakfast.

"Ohayou, Kunimitsu!" Ayana cheerfully greeted.

"Ohayou okaa-san." Tezuka replied with his usual poker face on.

Sitting across him was his father, Tezuka Kuniharu, who was currently reading the day's newspaper.

"Kunimitsu, did you happen see my attaché case?" he said, lowering the paper to see his son's face.

"No." Tezuka said as he poured himself a glass of juice.

The last one to be seated at the center of the table was his grandfather, Tezuka Kunikazu. He pulled out the chair and carefully sat down. Tezuka noticed the letter in his grandpa's hand but he didn't give much attention to it.

"Kunimitsu, I have something urgent to tell you." His grandfather started.

Tezuka inwardly cringed. He was starting to have bad vibes on the path of this conversation. "What is it, Ojii-san?"

Kunikazu cleared his throat. "My old friend, Shinomiya Junichiro sent me this letter from Europe." He paused, breaking the news down slowly. "He asked me if you and his granddaughter could be engaged for your future financial security."

Tezuka felt a lump of food stuck in his throat. He downed the stuck piece and his dumbfounded-ness with a whole glass of juice. "What? And you agreed?" He finally spoke.

"I'm about to do so. I have talked to your parents about this and I have decided to give him my answer anytime next week." Kunikazu said, handing him the letter. "She'll be back here in couple of months so everything should be arranged by then."

Tezuka eyed his mother and his father before reading the contents of the dreaded letter. "Ojii-san, this can't… I'm sorry but I can't let this can't happen." He calmly said. "This is all so sudden."

Kunikazu raised an eyebrow. "Are you defying me? This is for your future, Kunimitsu. You know I don't insist on anything that would jeopardize you." He said, slightly raising his voice. "What are your reasons?"

Tezuka lowered his gaze. "It's because… I'm…"_ Tezuka Kunimitsu, think! _

"If you're thinking about your tennis career, it wouldn't be a bother. You're going to get married as soon as you feel that you have accomplished everything you wanted."

Now that tennis is out, Tezuka has now run out of excuses. His grandfather sternly looked at him, waiting for an answer.

Tezuka clutched his glass firmly. "I already have a special someone."

Ayana choked and Kuniharu dropped his cup at the same time. "NANI?"

"You *cough* have a girl*cough cough* friend and you *cough* didn't even bother to tell us?" Ayana said, struggling to talk while coughing. Kuniharu was caressing her back to relieve her.

Tezuka calmly offered his mother something to drink, which she accepted. "I'm sorry for not informing you about this…" _This __lie and nothing but a lie._

"My son, you have _finally_ grown up into a real man!" Kuniharu shook Tezuka's hand, clearly congratulating him. "I can't believe it!"

"Who is this girl? When and where did you meet her?" His grandfather interrogated.

Tezuka felt his whole body stiffen. "I will introduce her to you… next week."

Kunikazu gazed at his grandson intently. He had doubts in his mind but since it's his grandson, he trusted him enough to give him the benefit of the doubt. "Hn. I will give this girl a chance. If she is not worthy, I will send my yes to Junichiro. However as of now, my decision will still stand. Do you understand?"

"Hai. I understand." Tezuka replied as he stood up. "I'll take my leave."

"Take care Mitsu." His father said.

"And take care of the girl too!" His mother added.

The three remaining people heard the front door slam.

Kunikazu shook his head and folded his arms. "What am I going to say to Junichiro? This was _against_ my expectations."

"Maa, otousan," Ayana sipped her tea. "You should relax. I'm sure Junichiro-san would understand."

"But that kid doesn't understand…"

"Otousan, I know we have agreed about this but let's just see how this turns out." Kuniharu said. "And don't be biased about it."

Kunikazu sighed.

oooooo

Tezuka, to be exact, was _overly _flabbergasted. The calm and collected captain walked on a faster pace than usual. He tried to tell himself that the shenanigan that happened was a nightmare but unfortunately, it wasn't. He couldn't believe that one damned letter could take his life to a 180 degree turn. To top it all, he couldn't believe himself for blurting out the lamest excuse _ever. _He wasn't supposed to let his guard down at all times and this morning, he definitely did.

Tezuka stopped by on a bench, trying to regain his composure. He ran his hand through his hair and sighed. He took out his phone and scanned his phone directory for people whom he could talk to. Even though he seems like a rock and all that, he can't keep bottling up the stress inside. He had to talk to someone who could possibly help him get through this nightmare.

'_Atobe…'_

He and the Hyotei buchou indeed shared a degree of closeness that he didn't have with anyone but… he had to find other choices.

'_Echizen...' _

He shook his head. The brat didn't have the maturity to help him.

'_Fuji…'_

That sadist? Never. Not even in his dreams.

'_Inui…'_

Definitely not. He couldn't reveal this _**precious**_ piece of data to him.

'_Oishi.'_

The Fukubuchou had his trust but he was not the right person.

He scanned his phone until the last entry but still, he went back to this name:

"Atobe."

oooooo

_40-0! Hyotei- Atobe's lead! Match point!_

"_YOSHA!" Atobe expressed._

"_WHOOOOOOOOOO! GO ATOBE!"_

"_KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! ATOBE-SAMA!"_

"_KATSU NO WA HYOTEI! THE WINNER WILL BE HYOTEI! THE WINNER WILL BE—"_

_Atobe snapped his fingers and hushed the audience. "Me."_

_The cheers of victory… the yells of triumph… it was music to his ears. He didn't mind the scorching heat or the sweat that drenched him all over. His only focus was to defeat the person standing on the other side of the court—his ultimate rival, Sanada Genichiro._

_He watched Sanada's fierce expression as he dribbled the tennis ball. "Sorry, Sanada, but this game's mine!" _

_He tossed the ball up and was more than prepared to hit his tannhaüser serve and…_

**KNOCK KNOCK**.

"Keigo-bocchama?"

"Ugh." Atobe rolled under his sheets, trying to rewind the scene in his mind.

"Keigo-bocchama,"

"What the hell is it? Interrupting my pleasant dream at this time. Tch." He snapped, trying to get his eyes open.

"Tezuka-sama is on the line. He says it's urgent." His butler said from the other side of the door.

_Oh? Tezuka? _"Give me the phone." Atobe said with one eye still closed.

His butler went in and handed him the phone. "You may leave now." Atobe ordered.

The butler bowed his head and left. Atobe sat up as he pressed the talk button.

"Hello." he sleepily said.

"_Atobe…" _Tezuka said, still having second thoughts.

"Hm…?"

"_I..." _Tezuka hesitated.

"You…?"

Silence came from the other line.

"Oi, Tezuka." The Hyotei captain said, his eyes still drooping. "If the _urgent_ thing you're going to talk about is _this_, I'm hanging up."

"_Wait."_ Tezuka said, his voice raising a little. "_I need your help."_

Atobe's eyes shot open with curiosity and interest. It was like a bucket of ice-cold water thrown at his face. "My, a miracle from the heavens has been bestowed upon Ore-sama. You rarely ask _me_ or anyone for help."

"_Atobe…" _

"Okay, okay." He stifled a yawn. "What is it?"

Tezuka cleared his throat. _"My grandfather informed me just this morning that he's going to get me engaged to his friend's granddaughter. He'll get everything arranged before the next couple of months."_

Atobe suppressed another yawn. "So? Isn't that a good thing? You finally have a lovelife."

"_No, it __**isn't**__. And on top of that, to escape from Ojii-san's judgment, I told him… that I'm already__..."_ Tezuka paused, hesitating to tell him the word. "…_committed to someone else_." He hastily murmured.

"What? I didn't catch that."

Tezuka sighed. "_I told him that I have a __girlfriend."_

Silence.

"Pffft- wh- hahahahaha… you _**what**_?" Atobe said, trying to talk while in the midst of laughter.

"_Atobe…" _ Tezuka's glasses flashed in anger as he put the phone away from his ear to protect his ears from his friend's eardrum-busting laughter. He knew this would happen but it was too late to wish he hadn't done it. _"This isn't a laughing matter."_ He firmly said.

Atobe released his final chuckle and sniffled. "I couldn't help it... It's just that… the words _**Tezuka**_ and _**girlfriend**_ don't match…" He said.

"…"

"Okay, okay. So you're asking me to help you find the 'perfect' lady, right?"

"_Apparently, yes__."_

"Hmm… that's simple." Atobe said, fiddling with his hair. "You have a _LOT_ of fangirls. Pick a decent one; introduce her to your family and poof. You're done."

"_It would cause a lot of trouble."_ He said, thinking that even his most normal fangirl would squeal to death if he told her the situation he's in.

"It could have been easier if there was some girl who is closely linked to you." Atobe said.

"_I just need someone who could understand that all of this is just strictly business."_

"A girl who doesn't worship you, you mean?"

"_Yes."_

"Seriously, Tezuka, I honestly do not know of any girl who doesn't _adore _you."

"_This isn't the time for flattery, Atobe." _Tezuka sarcastically remarked.

"I'm not trying to flatter you. Besides, I have more fangirls than you do."

Tezuka sighed. "_Let's go back to the topic."_

"Okay." Atobe said. "But do you seriously think that this is going to work? No offense, but that excuse won't fool your grandfather for long."

_"I know that." _Tezuka said. _"But if I could keep up this scheme for a few months, he will decide to call it off."_

"But isn't 'a few months' too long? You could get tangled in another messy situation with that."

Tezuka sighed deeply. _"I can't think of any other option but to go with this right now. This is already more messy and tangled than you think."_

"Okay then. Suit yourself." Atobe said. "So you're looking for someone who doesn't worship you at your feet, eh?"

_"Yes."_

Atobe suddenly thought of a bright idea. "Well, there _might_ be someone after all."

"_And who might that be?"_

The ice king smirked. "_My_ girlfriend."

* * *

A/N: How was it guys? ^__^ please do tell me your thoughts and comments so I can improve…


	3. Chapter 3

Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is _finally_ rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime

Main Pairings [with a twist]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada

Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^_^

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns POT.

**Chapter 2: A Day in the Life of Tezuka Kunimitsu, part II **

The ice king smirked. "My _girlfriend_."

"_Your… what?"_

"You heard me right, Tezuka." Atobe said, his head held high in satisfaction. "Only a few people, now including you, know about this. My fangirls will go on a rampage and kill her if they knew. I don't want that to happen to my _love_."

Tezuka was silenced, wondering who the unlucky girl was. Atobe could not be serious in being romantically involved with another person, especially with his narcissistic fetishes.

"Oi, Tezuka. Still there?"

"_Hm. But… why? I mean—"_

"First of all, I am one hundred percent sure that she doesn't and _won't_ fall for you_."_

"_O-of course, but-"_

"And second…"

"…_?"_

Atobe stood up and went to his balcony. "I'm leaving for Paris next week for my aunt's wedding and I won't be back 'till next month."

_Another surprise_, Tezuka thought. _"One month for a wedding?"_

"I'm also my dad's proxy so I need to take care of some of his businesses there."

"_And so…"_

"I really didn't want to leave because of her but because of your dilemma, I have found the perfect person to watch after her while I'm away."

"_And that person will be me?"_

"Bingo. I'll leave her to your care and at the same time, she'll help you by pretending to be your girlfriend. It's a win-win situation for the three of us."

"_Atobe… "_ Tezuka blurted out, still puzzled.

"It's all going to be perfect so you needn't be worried. After all, you're just playing pretend, right?"

"_Aa."_

"And I have absolute trust in you Tezuka. We've already known each other since time immemorial."

Tezuka smiled at Atobe's exaggeration. _"Wakatta. Thank you, Atobe."_

"I'll introduce her to you tomorrow at my birthday party so make sure you'll come."

"_Sure."_

"We'll discuss this whole thing with her tomorrow."

"_Hm."_

"I'll go on ahead."

"_Bye."_

Atobe hung up the phone. He pressed a couple of keys and brought the phone back to his ear. "Good morning. May I speak to Shusumi please?"

oooooo

Tezuka closed his flip-phone. "I thought you were a narcissist, Atobe. I didn't know you were capable of loving people other than yourself." He muttered to himself.

He finally got to the bus station at 7:00 AM. Unfortunately, he missed the first bus so he waited for another ten minutes until the next ride came. The bus was almost full when he got in. He was forced to sit at a vacant place beside a _very _pretty honey-haired girl with perpetually closed eyes and an everlasting smile.

"Tezuka-kun!" The girl cheerily said, hooking her arm to Tezuka's. The _extremely_ jealous fangirls [and boys] who saw the scene were dying to throttle the pretty girl to death. "It's so rare to see you at this time… you slept in, _didn't you_?" The girl taunted, not minding the enraged fangirls/boys behind them.

His glasses flashed in anger the second time this morning as he took his arm away. At that same moment, his fangirls rejoiced silently on their seats.

"Cold as always." The girl muttered.

Tezuka remained silent, trying to extend his patience to the girl's annoying antics.

"Oh yeah, Tezuka-kun, I assume you haven't forgotten the council meeting this dismissal, ne?"

His face remained as stoic as ever although his fingers were clenched to a tight ball. "I haven't forgotten about that, _Fukutaichou-san._"

The girl smiled wider, delighted in what she did. _'I'm so proud of myself… I'm always the one who makes the stoic Tezuka snap…'_

oooooo

"All regulars, additional twenty laps!"

The seigaku regulars groaned. "For goodness sake Tezuka, it's just the morning practice, nya…" Eiji complained.

"As far as I'm concerned, we didn't do anything to displease him… yet." Momo said.

Horio joined in the conference. "Maybe he's got PMS..?"

"Are you stupid?" Momo yelled.

Horio sheepishly scratched his head and chuckled. "Or maybe not."

"Maybe he woke up at the wrong side of the bed." Echizen, who had just arrived, said as he passed by the subject of the conversation. "Chiisu."

A vein popped on the captain's head. "Echizen. Fifty laps for your tardiness."

"Eh?"

"80 laps."

"Hai!" Echizen yelled, rolling his eyes as he sped off to run his rounds. "Che_…"_

"What's wrong with Tezuka today?" The puzzled Kawamura asked.

"There's a 50 percent possibility that it's family-related, 30 percent that it's girl-related and the rest of the percentage goes to the reason that he just woke up at the wrong side of the bed." Inui calculated.

"Eh? Girl?" Eiji wondered.

"Yes," Inui's glasses flashed dangerously as he pushed it up. "A _girl_."

Eiji's eyebrow raised. "Could that even be possible? I mean, Tezuka rarely—or _never_ entertained his female peers except during group activities or council meetings."

Kawamura nodded. "That's right."

Inui smirked. "That's what you all think."

The regulars' eyes gleamed at the juicy gossip. "Well, who is the girl, Inui?" Eiji asked.

"You'll find out soon enough." Inui said, with a smirk lingering on his face.

"But whatever the reason is… he's venting his anger or _whatever_ on us. Ne, senpai?" Momo piped in.

"Anger. Tch. Baka yaro." Kaidoh cursed. "You ever heard of the word **training**? Or maybe your brain is too small to process it?"

"Teme! Care to repeat that, MAMUSHI?" Momo yelled as he grabbed Kaidoh's collar

"FSSSSHHUUUUU….." Kaidoh hissed, preparing to lunge at the broom-headed boy.

"Oi, oi… Stop that right now…" Oishi stepped between the enraged sophomores.

"Momoshiro, Kaidoh, 100 laps!"

"He started it—"

"Two hundred—"

"H-hai!" The two yelled and ran off while bickering at each other.

Oishi put a hand on his forehead. "Goodness."

oooooo

**In class 3-6 [after morning practice]…**

"Fuuuu-heeeh!" Eiji panted, stretching his arms on his desk.

"You've had some harsh training, didn't you?" Fuji cheerily asked.

"You bet." Eiji rolled his eyes. "Tezuka seems to be in a bad mood today, nya."

"Hmm… is that so?" Fuji said, still grinning. _I perfectly know the reason why… _

Eiji glared at his smiling friend. "Mou, Fujiko-chan… shouldn't you be sympathizing with me?"

"Why would I?" Fuji grinned wider as **_she _**revealed a pair of perfect (but scary) cereulean eyes. "I love seeing other people suffer."

Eiji shuddered, inching away from his companion. "Fujiko-chan…"

Fuji chuckled. "Just kidding."

oooooo

**At class 1-1…**

"Ryoma-kun…" Sakuno said as she worriedly looked at the currently knocked-out freshman rookie.

"Oi, Horio, what happened to Ryoma-sama?" Tomoka asked.

The boy scratched his head. "Tezuka-buchou was super harsh today… He made Echizen run 80 laps. I wonder what happened to Kaidoh-senpai and Momo-chan-senpai though. Buchou made them run a hundred laps."

"Ehh? Really?" Tomo put both hands on her face. "I must really give Ryoma-sama lots and lots of food when he wakes up and…maybe Momoshiro-senpai and Kaidoh-senpai too. Ah, no. Forget Kaidoh-senpai."

"Give him lots and lots of food and yada yada yada…." Horio mocked as he rolled his eyes at Tomo.

Tomo shot the boy a killer glare. "Shut up you useless moron!"

"Only if you shut that big, stupid mouth of yours!" Horio snapped.

**DING! DING! DING! DING!**

"Let's go, Tomo-chan, classes are about to start…" Sakuno said as she dragged her hotheaded best friend away from Horio.

"I'll get back at you later, idiot." Tomo said as she let go of Horio's collar.

Horio rolled his eyes. "Get lost!"

oooooo

The captain heaved a sigh as he put his books under his desk. It was still eight in the morning but to Tezuka, it felt like it was the groggiest time in the afternoon. After all the things that happened this morning, he couldn't help but feel stressed. He looked out the window, resting his chin on his palm.

'_I have the tennis team to think about, the student council, my academics and now this.' _Tezuka thought. _'I seriously cannot believe Ojii-san did that. Ojii-san, of all people...'_

"… and so we have to get everyone in the council cooperate- Tezuka, are you still listening to me?" Oishi said, interrupting Tezuka's train of thought.

"Aa." Tezuka replied, focusing his attention back to Oishi.

"Is there something bothering you? You don't seem to be yourself…" Oishi said.

Tezuka glowered at him a bit. "No."

"Uhh. Okay." Oishi backed away a bit, sensing the "It's-none-of-your-business" aura.

"Well, about the meeting later…" He paused. "Nevermind. Just.. continue whatever you were thinking there."

"Hm." Tezuka said as he massaged his temple.

Oishi sweatdropped. _'I'd better give him aspirins later…'_

oooooo

**Hyotei Gakuen, 8:00 AM**

"YOSHI!" Atobe yelled as he clapped his hands. "You may all go. Hit the showers, people."

"Otsukaresama deshita!" Everyone yelled in unison.

"Oi, Atobe…" Oshitari started. "You're not in your usual 'flashy mode' this morning."

Shishido smirked. "Aren't you glad, Oshitari? At least Kami-sama gave us one morning to _peacefully_ practice without his annoying 'Ore-sama no bigi ni yoi na' trademark line."

Gakuto snorted. "Yeahhh. But there'd be more peace if his fangirls would stop squealing at every _perfect_ move thy _Ore-sama_ makes, ne Yuushi?"

Oshitari just smirked in reply as Atobe shot his enth death glare at them. If looks could kill, Shisido and Gakuto would have died right on the spot. "One more word from either of you two and I'll really make you run laps until you drop dead."

Shishido rolled his eyes but didn't say another word. Gakuto immediately shut his mouth and went ahead to the clubroom.

"So?" Oshitari put his hand in his pocket. "You're still worried about leaving, aren't you?"

"Actually, I'm not." Atobe said. "I just feel sleepy, that's all."

Oshitari arched an eyebrow. "*Nanya… did you stay up late talking with her?"

"I woke up real early because of a phone call, on the contrary." The Hyotei captain replied.

"From her?" The tensai asked.

"No." Atobe replied. "From someone I least expected."

"Hmm… I see." Oshitari adjusted his glasses. _'Someone you least expected, huh.'_

oooooo

**[Fast forward] Seishun Gakuen Student Council conference room, 5:00 pm**

"So, are there any more suggestions?" Fuji Shusumi, the Vice-chairperson, asked the members present.

"None." The council people said in unison.

"Then, we shall proceed to the discussion of the probable settings for our school festival." Tezuka said.

"I think the Halloween setting is better," Fuji said. "Seigaku has never done this setting before and it's also quite unique."

"I agree. It's going to be on November, after all." Said Mishima, the class president of class 3-2.

"Demo, if we do that, our expenses will be higher than the usual." Another voice said.

"Yes. We are also considering that idea which led us to the other proposal: the **Culture Day setting, since the school festival will be held on the third of November." Tezuka said.

"Hmmm… that's also a good idea." Nakayama, the vice-president of class 2-6 seconded.

"And it's less expensive…" Oishi added.

Murmurs filled the room. "Well, I'll go for the Halloween setting. It wouldn't hurt to go a little beyond our normal expenses for a once-a-year event, right?" Fuji's voice resonated above the soft voices. "And I think it's going to be lots of fun!"

"Yeah…" people nodded in agreement.

Tezuka, on the other hand, defended the other point for the reason that he wasn't up to the idea of dressing up in scary costumes and all that jazz. "For me, it's better if we commemorate what the day celebrates itself."

Fuji grinned wider._ This is SO going to be interesting…_ "But we're celebrating the event every year, Tezuka-kun. Why not go out of the conventional just for once?"

Tezuka pushed his glasses up. "Well…"

"Fuji-Fukutaichou is right, Taichou-san…" An ichinen president said.

With the majority saying the same thing, Tezuka could not oppose anymore. So, against his will, he finally agreed. "It's going to be the Halloween setting, then."

Fuji smiled in satisfaction. _'Fuji, 2 points. Tezuka, zero.'_

Happiness echoed throughout the room. Tezuka sighed in annoyance. '_At least, this meeting's come to an end…' _He thought. He turned to the secretary. "Make sure you've written everything down. I'll be needing your report next Monday."

The secretary blushed profusely. "H-hai…" she dreamily said.

"And Akashi-kun, inform the principal about this as soon as you get the full report from the secretary." He said.

"Hai, Taichou-san." The Press Relations Officer bowed his head.

"Tadao-kun, you shall be giving me the estimated expenses for the festival by the end of next week."

"Hai." The treasurer replied.

Tezuka faced the rest of council. "This meeting has ended. You are all dismissed." he said with his usual commanding tone.

As he joined the crowd out of the room, Fuji caught up with him. "I'm _very_ much looking forward to your _Halloween get-up,_ Tezuka-kun…" she teased.

Tezuka concentrated on looking forward to avoid being caught off-guard by the girl beside him_. _

Fuji chuckled. "So, do already have plans on—"

"If you don't mind, _Fuji-san_, I'd like to go ahead in _peace._" Tezuka bowed his head curtly. "Excuse me."

"Right." Fuji smiled as she crossed her arms. "I didn't know you were _this _unsociable, Tezuka-kun." She said as she watched Tezuka walk away.

_**Bzzz… Bzzzz…**_

"Eh?" She fumbled for her phone in her pocket. She pressed the talk button. "Moshi moshi."

"_Shusumi…" _

"Oh, Keigo. The meeting's just finished. I'll be there in a few." She said, hurrying to her classroom to get her things.

"_Shusumi dear, I can't meet with you today."_

"Eh? Why?" Fuji pouted.

"_I have to attend to some last-minute changes to the party."_

"Ehhh… then what about this important thing you were going to tell me?" Fuji sat on her desk.

"_You'll have to wait until tomorrow…" _

"Hmm…"

Atobe felt her pout on the other line. "_I'll make it up to you tomorrow, I promise."_

"Did you invite Genichiro and Sei-chan and the others?" She asked.

"_Of course. How could I forget them?"_

"Hmm…Just making sure…" Fuji grinned. "The reunion's set, then?"

"_Yeah." _Atobe said. _"Ja, I have to go. Be careful on your way home."_

"Hai, hai, commander." Fuji jokingly said as she closed her phone.

Fuji couldn't help but be excited. Excited about the "important thing" Atobe is going to tell her, excited about the party, excited about seeing her two long-time closest fellows again… excited about everything! She wondered if she could even sleep in her excitement tonight.

**Tezuka's residence, 6:00 pm**

Tezuka opened the door. "Tadaima."

"Okairi," His mother answered. "You've got an invitation from Atobe-kun." She handed the card to Tezuka.

"Thank you." He said as he received the invitation. It was a cream-white perfumed card designed with grey swirls. It has Atobe's picture at the back of the card. Talk about narcissism.

_**Greetings!**_

_**Tezuka Kunimitsu is cordially invited to Ore-sama's 15**__**th**__** birthday party at the Atobe Private Indoor Beach Resort in Okinawa. You are expected at 10:00 am [via my private chopper] so don't you dare be late or else Ore-sama's bodyguards will not let you in. [I'm not kidding, Tezuka.] And everyone is privileged to have an overnight stay in the resort. **_

_**Yours Truly,**_

_**Atobe Keigo**_

Tezuka smiled in amusement. It's so like Atobe to dramatize everything. _'I wonder if the other invitations are this personal too,' _He mused.

oooooo

**The Fuji Manor, 6:30 pm**

"Okairi, Shusumi-ojousama." Her maids-in-waiting greeted as Fuji handed her bag to one of her maids.

"Where's nee-san?" Fuji asked.

"She's waiting for you at her library." One of her maids said.

"Thanks, Kyu-chan." She smiled.

Fuji's proceeded to the library, which was situated at the second floor. Fuji opened the door. "Nee-san…"

"Shusumi!" Yumiko greeted. "You've received an invitation from Keigo-kun. So it's going to be in Okinawa, ne?"

Fuji read the invitation. "Yeah… that's why I'm even more excited! Keigo's private chopper, huh?" She giggled as she sat down on a cushioned, velvet couch.

"Keigo-kun is so mean." Yumiko pouted. "He didn't even invite me…"

"That's okay, nee-san…" Fuji smiled. "I'll bring you _lots_ of goodies when I come back."

"I'm not satisfied with just _lots _of goodies. I also want more from Yuuta so tell him to bring loads of perks for me, 'kay? She winked.

"Anything for my nee-san…" She said, smiling sweetly.

Yumiko then sat down and laid her tarot cards on a desk. "Hmmm… I've looked into your future for tomorrow…" Yumiko said in a somewhat serious tone. "You want me to tell 'ya?" She then grinned.

"I'm scared of your predictions, nee-san… It often comes true…" Fuji crossed her arms to her chest.

"Well… it's going to be a _colorful_ and _memorable_ day for you tomorrow. And the day after tomorrow. And the days after that…"

"I thought you've peeked into my future for tomorrow only?"

Yumiko shrugged. "It's still tomorrow."

Fuji stood up and turned to open the door. "Your predictions aren't bad at all, nee-san." She said as she closed the door and skipped gleefully outside.

Yumiko shuffled her cards again. "And tomorrow… is going to change a part your life, Shusumi." She said.

* * *

**A/N: **I do hope you enjoyed this chapter and with the idea that I transformed Fuji into a full-pledged girl. Please do review and tell me about your thoughts, comments and suggestions! I'd be glad to read them all!

*Nanya- Kansai way of saying "nanda" or "what"

**Culture day or "Bunka no Hi"- Event wherein the Japanese people give tribute to those people who had great contributions in the fields of art and sciences and are given awards by the Japanese government.


	4. Chapter 4

Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is _finally_ rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime

Main Pairings [with a twist]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada

Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^_^

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns POT.

**Chapter 3: The Party: Prelude**

**[The Atobe Private Indoor Beach Resort, 8:00 AM]**

"This place's bigger than I'd expected…" Oshitari said, standing in front of the doors of the resort.

"This is the first time I've seen something like this… it's so unique." Choutaro marveled at the sight.

"Duhhhh." Gakuto rolled his eyes, pointing at the noisy battalion of people (mostly girls) behind them. "I don't think his _highness_ would book a shack for these people."

"Right." Shishido turned to Atobe. "And _why_ the **hell** did you invite these _shrieking_ fangirls of yours, huh, Atobe?" He complained. "Those screams are starting to impair my precious hearing!"

"It's because I'm kind enough to repay them for_ loving_ thy Ore-sama. You're just jealous because majority of those screams are for _me_ and me alone…" Atobe took off his sunglasses and turned to his fans. He snapped his finger and the whole place went silent. "Go forth and enjoy what my greatness offers you, my fellows."

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The regulars stepped aside as the stampede of screaming and excited Hyotei students flooded the entrance of the resort.

"Damned egotistical brat." Shishido muttered to himself.

As he looked at another direction, he noticed a lone female leaning on a wall beside the potted palm tree. She was totally exhausted but still looked pretty despite her disheveled blue, ponytailed hair. She was wearing a now wrinkled white tee accentuated with a silver dog tag, camouflage khaki shorts, flip-flops and an olive-colored newsboy cap.

"Hm?" He strained his eyes. "Kana-chan?"

"Who?" Gakuto asked.

"Kanami, Oshitari's younger sister. She's our kouhai." Shishido replied, pointing at the girl standing beside the palm tree.

"Eh?" Choutaro looked at the same way. "She looks so haggard… I wonder what happened to her," The boy commented.

"Nanya. I did tell her not to gallivant until I say so." Oshitari said as the girl stormed towards them.

"OSHITARI YUUSHI." Kana said between jagged breaths. "You dared to leave me alone in that rampage! How could you?"

Oshitari smirked. "I told you, didn't I? It's not my fault you entertained your curiosity and left."

"I was entertaining the call of nature, baka aniki." Kana retorted.

Atobe surveyed the girl from head to foot. "You better fix yourself, tomboy. You look like you've been raped. Na, Kabaji?"

"Usu." Kabaji replied as usual.

Kana raised an eyebrow at the buchou as she put a hand on her waist. "First of all, I am _not_ a tomboy." She said. "And before you go on criticizing me, _you_ better fix those untamed fangirls of yours, Atobe-san. They can be_ dangerous_ if stampedes like that happen everyday."

"Unfortunately, it does happen every single time we go out of the courts, Kana." Oshitari said.

"Well, in that case, a day will come when the newspaper headlines will be: 'Hyotei student found dead after a violent stampede by Atobe's fangirls!" She said, mimicking a reporter. She then smirked. "That's what I call, 'someone worth _dying_ for'."

Shishido and Gakuto snickered. "_That_ is what I like about your sister, Oshitari…" Shishido put and arm around the girl's shoulders. "We can really become good partners-in-crime… ne?" He said as the girl nodded in agreement.

"At least there's some proof that not all of Hyotei's female population are awed by your _prowess,_ Atobe." Gakuto added.

Oshitari shrugged. "I guess no one can romance my tomboy sister after all."

Kana shot a sharp look at her brother. "What part of 'I'm not a lesbian' couldn't you freaking understand?"

"Everything." Oshitari said, smirking teasingly.

"You're so cute when you're like that, Kana-chan," Shishido innocently (?) commented. Kanami, who was under Shishido's arm, slightly blushed at the statement.

Oshitari smiled at Kanami. "That's why I tease her so much." He pinched Kana's cheek.

"Ow." Kana rubbed the spot where Oshitari pinched.

"Yuushi…" Gakuto's face looked troubled. "I knew you were always interested in women… but seducing your own sister?"

Oshitari's eyebrow raised in Gakuto's stupidity. "What are you blabbering about, Gakuto?"

"He must've been high with sugar again." Shishido said.

"I'd rather fall off a cliff rather than falling for that baka aniki." Kana muttered.

"Oh? So is there a possibility you'd fall for me, Kana-chan?" Atobe seductively teased, moving closer to the girl.

Kana, who was still under Shishido's arm, grabbed hold of the dash specialist's hand and smirked. "I'd rather die than fall for you."

The Hyotei regulars snickered. "Ooh, Atobe got dumped." Gakuto said.

Atobe glared at his regulars. "Hmph. I'll let you off the hook since it's my day. And Oshitari…"

Oshitari folded his arms. "Yeah?"

"Set a good example for your sister, will you? Don't allow her to hang out with such unscrupulous beings like some people I know." Atobe said, looking at Shishido and Mukahi's direction. The two just smirked, knowing they won the round.

The tensai shrugged. "Hai, hai."

"Let's go, Kabaji." Atobe walked off inside the dome as the copycat genius trailed behind him.

oooooo

**[9:00 AM]**

"Ohhhhh… Suuugeee…" Marui ogled at the huge establishment in front of him.

"As expected of Atobe." The gentleman, Yagyuu commented.

"I seriously thought that he'd hold a grand masquerade ball or something." Jackal said.

In front of the Rikkai regulars and company is a large, dome-like structure, which is about the size of an island, also known as the Atobe Private Indoor Beach Resort.

"Heh. Not bad." Niou smirked. "A beach party in the midst of fall. Only Atobe could make that possible.

"What are we standing here for, senpai-tachi? Let's go and have fun under the sun!" Kirihara jumped around enthusiastically, waving his surfboard as his senpais ducked to avoid being hit.

"We'll get hit bull's-eye if he swishes that board at a 30 degree angle more to the right…" Renji said, eluding another hit. Sanada, who was a tad pissed, grabbed hold of the surfboard and the sophomore ace to protect the people in the vicinity from being knocked out.

"You're the Rikkaidai students, I presume?" The receptionist asked.

"Yes." Sanada politely replied, suppressing the Kirihara and the board.

"You're the early birds, ne. Please do sign in this guest book." The woman handed Sanada a red guestbook.

"Take over, Jackal." Sanada handed the board to the defense specialist and signed the guest book in behalf of the group.

"Can we go in now?" Kirihara impatiently pleaded.

"Why, yes of course." The receptionist said to the wavy-haired boy.

"Whoo! Beach! Here I come!" Kirihara sped off inside the building.

"Akaya-kun's always hasty, ne, Genichiro?" A lovely blue-haired teen with delicate, feminine features said.

Sanada nodded in agreement. "Let's go before he wreaks any havoc inside."

And as much as the outside part of the resort made their mouths gape open, the inside finally made their jaws drop. The resort is very much like those 20-storey five-star hotels in Hawaii, equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and competent service staff. The dome has solar panels, which radiates the same amount natural sunlight during summer. The beach almost seemed natural with fine, white sand, waves perfect for surfing and different kinds of _**real**_ marine and coral species can be found under the sea. Not to mention, the resort is filled with lush greenery, with a built-in lake, perfect for those people who doesn't really enjoy skinny-dipping under the sun. Like a natural island, there are also mountain ranges where people can go hiking and enjoy the ambience of nature.

As soon as the Rikkai students had entered, Atobe approached the group. "Welcome to Ore-sama's resort, fellows."

"Ehhhh… What a magnificent place you have here, Atobe-san…" Kirihara complimented as his eyes wandered all over the place.

"Thank you for appreciating my grandeur, Kirihara-kun." Atobe flashed his trademark arrogant smile. "Enjoy yourselves here. You may put your gifts inside the hotel."

"Tch." Niou smirked. "Oh well, you would _love _my gift, Atobe." He said, flashing a dangerous smile.

Atobe, knowing the trickster's intentions, smirked. "Make sure of that or you'll really get a taste of your own medicine."

"Yeah, yeah." Niou rolled his eyes. "I'll be going ahead people." He said as he walked off to the luxurious hotel.

"Ja, I'll see 'ya later!" Marui and the others followed Niou to the hotel.

"Genichiro," Renji whispered. "Remember, today is your biggest chance. Don't screw up or I'll really be forced to meddle if you still can't make it." He said before he finally walked away. Sanada of course, perfectly knew what the data master meant.

oooooo

Meanwhile, out of the earshot, Yukimura approached the host. "Happy Birthday…" **_She_** finally said, handing Atobe his present personally. "You haven't changed a bit. You're still the same person I have always remembered, Keigo."

"Neither did you, Sei. You're still dazzling as always." Atobe said, enveloping the blue-haired girl in a friendly hug.

"I've really missed you, baka!" Yukimura hugged the guy tighter.

"I missed you too, yaro!" Atobe replied, hugging **_her_** even tighter.

A vein popped on Sanada's forehead as he watched the _touching_ reunion moment going on. "Ah-herm." He cleared his throat, breaking the hugging scene between the two. "I'm afraid I'm still here, watching your _intimacies_ going on."

"Why, Sanada?" Atobe purred. "You want a hug too?"

Sanada looked away as cheeks were tinted with a little red. "_No, _thank you."

Yukimura chuckled. "Maa, Genichiro, you want me to hug you instead?"

Sanada walked ahead to avoid the two from seeing his face flushed. "I'm going ahead, Yukimura." _You could save that hug for later. _He thought.

Atobe and Yukimura looked at each other and smirked. "Shall we?" Atobe held his arm to Yukimura.

Yukimura hooked her hand onto the latter's arm and smiled. "Lead the way, Keigo."

oooooo

**[Seishun Gakuen soccer field, 9:45 am]**

"Gaaaaaaahhhhh!" Eiji expressed, almost pulling his hair out. "Where the hell is Ochibi?"

"Sou da…" Horio said. "At this rate, Echizen will be left behind!"

"That fool's probably still fast asleep!" Momo said, walking to and fro. "Let's leave that brat or we're missing half of our lives!"

"It's just a damned party, you peabrain." Kaidoh retorted. "The chopper isn't even here yet."

"Yeah right_. _It's just a damned party your face!" Momo snapped. "For all I know, you're itching to get your –toot-ing ass to Okinawa!"

"NANI?" Kaidoh growled. "fsssshhhhuuuuuuuu…."

Momo grabbed Kaidoh's shirt. "You wanna go at it, AAAH?"

"HORA! You two!" Ryuzaki-sensei yelled but it didn't seem to affect the squabbling sophomores.

"Here we go again…" Oishi stood up to mediate in the fight. "Momo, Kaidoh," He spoke slowly. "I want you to be _good_ **children**, all right? Just for once, please. Don't give me another heck of a migraine just for this day. Please?" Oishi pleaded, with a matching sparkly, innocent smile.

"Tch." Momo hastily let go of the viper's shirt. "If it weren't for Oishi-senpai…"

"Don't worry, I'll get back at you. Fsssshhhhuuuuuuuu." Kaidoh hissed.

Oishi let out a sigh of relief as he put a hand on his chest. "Finally… they listened to me."

Fuji patted the drained Fukubuchou's back. "That's okay, Oishi-kun. At least it went out well…" She grinned.

"It's not easy to manage folks like them every single day, you know." Oishi said. "If Tezuka and Inui weren't here, I would have died of hypertension by now."

"You really live up to your name, don't you?" Fuji said, flashing her trademark grin.

"Name?" Oishi raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. "What name?"

"Being the 'Mother of Seigaku' of course," Fuji replied.

"Ehh… maa…" Oishi scratched the back of his head, slightly embarrassed. "Am I really like a mother figure?"

Fuji nodded her head. "Mm-hmm."

**5 minutes later…**

Fuji was already bored to death. Seeing the others [eg. Momo, Eiji, et al.] having fun made her itch to have do the same thing. Her eyes roamed for probable candidates whom she could use as her outlet for boredom. She smirked as she spotted her most suitable target- the stern captain who was quietly sitting beside Seigaku's resident data man. The said Buchou, who was notorious for the catch phrase "Yudan sezu ni ikou" was currently showing signs that his guard was slowly going down, which gave Fuji a perfect opportunity to entertain herself and her torture material- Tezuka.

Fuji sat beside him. "Ne, Tezuka-kun…" She said, softly poking Tezuka's shoulder.

The coffee-blonde haired buchou sent a piercing look at the seemingly innocent girl. "Nani?"

As usual, Fuji grinned wider. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Tezuka silently struggled, avoiding himself to violently choke on his saliva. He kept quiet instead of answering the girl's nonsensical question.

Meanwhile, Inui's ears automatically twitched at the direction of the conversation. '_This is going to be interesting…'_

"I know of someone who I'm sure is definitely _your_ type of girl." Fuji continued.

Still, Tezuka said nothing. He gave the girl a chance to speak, thinking that she might be able to come up with a better solution for his _problem_.

"She's pretty, she's smart and talented and she's a very calm and refined girl…" Fuji enumerated, smiling even wider. "Not to mention, she also has a great figure! After all, her cup size was…** F,** was it?" Fuji put a finger on her chin as she glanced at Tezuka from the side.

"_Ooooh…_ Ii data…" Inui muttered to himself as he was writing the details furiously in his handy green notebook. "So he likes girls with big…"

"What the—" Tezuka glared at Inui and then at Fuji. "You're talking nonsense Fuji-san." He said, looking down to hide the slight tint of pink in his cheeks. "Why are you even here?"

Fuji caught that small detail and smirked. "Didn't _Atobe-san_ inform you that I AM invited, Tezuka-kun? After all, I am the Vice-chairperson of the Seishun Gakuen Student Council, am I not?"

"It doesn't have to do anything with Atobe." Tezuka replied sternly.

"Oh? Then why is the rest of the student council here, Tezuka-kun?" Fuji pointed the chattering students at the other side of the world.

Tezuka looked at the small cluster and was again silenced by the fact. Fuji retained her sadistic smile, which annoyed Tezuka even more.

Inui continued to scribble as much information he had got from the conversation. He smiled maniacally as his glasses gleamed at the glaring beam of the sun.

"_Fuji- 15. Tezuka- LOVE_." Fuji thought as she walked away, satisfied and entertained.

Seconds later, a loud, whirring sound was heard together with a powerful gust of wind. At long last, the awaited chopper has finally arrived. Everyone ran hurriedly to the 'copter in excitement.

"Momoshiro-senpai, anou…" Sakuno shyly grabbed Momo's sleeve. "Ryoma-kun hasn't arrived yet… I've been trying to contact him all morning but he wouldn't answer his phone…"

"Naaah, he might still be busy helping some _pregnant woman_ he met on the street, Ryuzaki-chan." Momo emphasized 'pregnant woman' while doing air quotes.

"Eh? I better go-"

Momoshiro dragged the girl. "Saa, let's go, Ryuzaki-chan!"

"Ehh? Chotto—!"

Sakuno couldn't resist to Momo's grip and so, she was forced to ride the chopper.

Meanwhile, as the chopper ascended, a distinctive little figure in a casual outfit was flailing his arms, hoping to catch the attention of the passengers.

"Eh… isn't that Echizen?" Eiji strained his vision on the figure below.

"Maaaaaatteeeee! Senpai-tachiiiiiii!" Echizen screamed at the top of his voice, even though his efforts were futile because his voice was drowned by the whirring sound of the propeller.

" Nya… I guess I miss ochibi terribly that I am starting to hallucinate."

"Eiji! You're not hallucinating!" Oishi jumped from his seat. "It IS Echizen!"

Tomo looked out and then stormed towards the aviator. "Chotto matte driver-san! How dare you try to leave Ryoma-sama behind! Stop this helicopter immediately!" She yelled at the poor guy, who knew nothing about leaving the rookie behind.

"H-hai! Sumimaseeeeen!" The pilot said as he lowered the vessel down.

Kawamura and Oishi, who were near the door, helped Echizen up the chopper.

"Gomen, senpai-tachi I was helping—"

"A PREGNANT WOMAN. Yeah, we know." The regulars said and rolled their eyes in unison.

Tezuka's brow furrowed in irritation. "Echizen, run 80 laps as soon as we get to Okinawa."

"Demo, Buchou I was—"

"I'll make it a hundred."

Echizen, as his buchou's favorite anger outlet, sighed. "Hai."

oooooo

"Otanjoubi Omedetto, Atobe." Tachibana greeted.

"Ahh.. Fudomine." Atobe smiled. "Thank you."

"And thanks for the invitation. You have a wonderful place here. " The Fudomine captain said. "By the way, is Tezuka here yet?"

"No, he still hasn't arrived. He disappointed Ore-sama for being late." Atobe folded his arms. "I clearly stated in my very personalized invitation that he shouldn't be tardy on my special day."

"Tezuka and late _never_ coincided but with Echizen on the side… " Tachibana grinned.

"Hmm… you have a point." Atobe turned to the girl beside Tachibana. "Oh, by the way, Rikkai is already enjoying themselves. Perhaps _Ann-chan_ would like to join _Kirihara-kun_ and his friends inside… Ahh?"

"More like minions." Ann rolled her eyes upon hearing the demon-elf's name. "Aren't you ashamed of taunting me in front of my brother, Atobe-san?"

"I'm sure your brother wouldn't mind." Atobe looked at the grinning captain. "After all, it's Ore-sama's birthday, right, Tachibana?"

"Aa." Tachibana nodded. "I sure wouldn't mind. But I think Kamio would…"

Kamio blushed beet red. "Tachibana-san!"

"Oniichan… I can't believe you're taking part with this madness." Ann pouted at his brother.

"Well, we might wanna quit the teasing because Momoshiro from Seigaku is now coming to town." Atobe pointed at the chopper above them.

Ann blushed upon hearing Momo's name. Kamio glared at the chopper, as if cursing the aforementioned person to fall off and die.

"Ann-channnnn! *Hisashiburiiiii iiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiii…!" Momo screamed as loud as a thousand megaphones combined.

"Speaking of the devil. Momoshiro is loud as always. He didn't even have enough shame to scream loud enough to be heard in the entire archipelago. I bet the people on that chopper are deaf by now. Tezuka-san and Oishi-san must be really exasperated too-"

"Shinji! What did I tell you about your habit?" Tachibana reprimanded the mumbling sophomore.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to—"

"Shinji…."

"Hai." Shinji said as he went inside together with his other companions.

oooooo

"Waaaaahhhh! Incredible!" Eiji said, walking towards the direction of the place.

"Words aren't enough to describe this place…" Oishi said.

"And now, is it just a _damned party_ huh, MAMUSHI?" Momo flashed a crooked smile at Kaidoh.

Kaidoh rolled his eyes in reply. "Hmph."

"Seigaku. You're late by a second. But anyway, welcome." Atobe, the dear host, said.

"We're sorry for the _tardiness,_ Atobe." Tezuka said, glaring at the freshman beside him. Echizen backed off and cowered behind Oishi.

"With Echizen around, it can't be helped." Atobe said. "So, you guys sign the guest book there and then you can go wild all you want. And don't forget to deposit your gifts in the hotel." Atobe gestured at the smiling receptionist.

"YAY!" Eiji and Momo ran as fast as they could, not even leaving their shadows behind.

Oishi sighed. "It seems that my job here would be the babysitter… again." Oishi said as he walked off to follow the two hyper regulars. The other regulars together with a few(?) extra people went ahead, leaving Tezuka and Fuji behind.

"Happy birthday, _Atobe-san._" Fuji said.

"Thank you, Fuji-san." Atobe said, putting his hands in his pocket to restrain himself from hugging the girl in front of him.

"Yuuta hasn't arrived yet, ne?"

Atobe shook his head. "You can go wait for him inside."

Fuji inched closer to Atobe and tiptoed to whisper something in his ear. "When are you going to tell me the important thing?" She then looked at Tezuka as if she were teasing him.

"Later, during lunch." Atobe stole a quick glance at Tezuka, whose suspicion is evident in his face. "And Sei's already dying to see you."

Fuji stepped back and turned to catch up with the others. "Ja, I'll be seeing you guys then!" she skipped away happily.

Atobe and Tezuka watched the girl. "She's interesting, isn't she?"

Tezuka sighed. "I'd better go ahead and rest a bit." He said, evading Atobe's previous question to avoid blurting out negative comments. It isn't in his personality to say ill things about a person anyway.

"Fine." Atobe smirked as he joined Tezuka inside.

**[At the beach…]**

"NIOU-SENPAI! GET THAT CRAB AWAY FROM ME!" Kirihara, his body buried under the sand, screamed as the huge, red crustacean crawled towards his face.

"Ooooohh… So the notorious little devil is scared of crabs?" Niou taunted the boy, pushing the crab closer to him.

"Noooooo…"

"I should have brought a camera with me. Dang." Marui said, enjoying the priceless moment where fear was painted all over Kirihara's face.

"Senpai! I'm begging you…" Kirihara pleaded, face to face with the darned crab.

"Maa, Niou, be a little gentler to your kouhai here." Yukimura sat beside Kirihara as she got the crab away from the poor boy's face.

"Haaaahhh…" Kirihara sighed in relief. "Thanks a lot, Yuki-senpai…."

"Tch." Niou buried Kirihara with more sand.

Yukimura stood up, still holding the crab. "I'll bring this to the chef. This would be a nice addition to our sumptuous lunch!"

"What? So you just wanted the crab? You didn't have any intentions of saving me?"

Niou smiled dangerously. "Yukimura's not as angelic as you think, my _dear_ kouhai_…"_

Yukimura smiled, amused at Niou's last comment. As she was about to turn away from them, a pair of hands grabbed hold of her arms. "Messing with your kouhais again, Sei-chan?" A familiar female voice said from behind.

"Shusumi!" She spun to embrace the person behind her, dropping the crab on Kirihara.

"OUUUUUUUUUUUCH!" Kirihara howled in pain as he tried to get the crab's pincers off his nose.

Niou and Marui were laughing their heads off. "Akaya the red-nosed REINDEER!"

Yukimura, not minding the agony of the boy, continued to hug her best friend. "I've really, really missed you so much!"

"Me too!" Fuji replied, a little teary-eyed.

"Ne, Yukimura, you know each other?" Marui asked while he was noogey-ing the demon ace.

Yukimura nodded. "Yup."

"Wait, I saw you at the sports congress last year! You're the Vice-chairperson of the Seigaku student council!" Kirihara butted in, clasping his swollen nose.

"And you're Kirihara-kun, right?" the smiling girl said.

Kirihara nodded. "You two seem very close, Yuki-senpai." he said, watching the crab as it made its way back to the sea.

Yukimura was the first to let go. "She's my long time best friend, Akaya-kun." she said, smiling at the girl beside her.

"Oh…" Kirihara sat cross-legged on the sand, brushing off the sand Niou and Marui were showering on him.

Fuji bent down and eyed Kirihara intently. "Kirihara-kun, what happened to your nose?"

"Oh, this?" Kirihara flashed his innocent elf look. "Yuki-senpai _accidentally_ dropped the crab on my face so…"

"I'm so sorry, Akaya-kun!" Yukimura gasped. "I didn't mean to…" she bent down and placed a light peck on the boy's nose. Kirihara blushed totally, literally looking as red as a tomato. "I'm really sorry."

"I-it's okay, Yuki-senpai! It doesn't hurt that much." Kirihara scratched the back of his head. He turned and glared to his senpais who were snickering behind him.

"I'd better report this to Sanada! Kirihara stealing _his_ precious Yukimura… he wouldn't be too pleased. Tee-hee." Niou said, pretending to walk off together with Marui.

Yukimura's brow raised. "Eh? You've got the wrong impression, Niou…"

Kirihara clutched on Niou's board shorts. "Don't do it! Please, I beg you! Sanada-san will seriously _behead_ me! I still wanna live for a hundred prosperous years!" the boy pleaded, remembering what became of those guys who tried to woo his stunning senpai.

Yukimura sweatdropped. "Akaya-kun… Genichiro and I are just very close friends."

Niou and Marui exchanged looks. "Oh?"

"_You're so oblivious, Yuki-senpai_." The elf muttered under his breath.

Fuji, hearing every word Kirihara uttered, let out a soft chuckle. "Kirihara-kun truly is cute off-court, ne?"

"Was that a compliment?" Kirihara, somewhat insulted, asked.

"It's up to how you take it…" Fuji replied, her sadistic smile again plastered on her face.

"Kehhh." Kirihara was thinking of retorting but it was the truth, after all.

"So," Yukimura tried to ease the tension. "Sei-chan and I will go ahead, Akaya-kun." She turned to Fuji. "I still have a lot to catch up with you, ne?"

"Hm!" Fuji nodded. She whispered something to Yukimura, which made the girl display a suspicious _angeli_c grin.

"Niou, Marui, take care of _Akaya-kun_ for me, will you?" Yukimura said, smiling **pleasantly**.

Kirihara cringed upon hearing his name. "I'm dead."

"It's our _honor,_ my lady." The two said in unison. They flashed an evil smile on Kirihara. "Now, shall we play again, Akaya?"

Kirihara sighed. "Why oh why, Kami? Why me?"

ooooo

**[At the Karaoke booth no. 1…]**

_**Kimi no egao ga mabushii yo…**_

_**Yureru nami no hikari… **_

_**Suiheisen ochiru yuuhi…**_

_**Kimi ga… tanoshii sogo ni…**_

_**Nami ni nani ka… sakenderuuu…**_

"KYAAAAAA! RYOMA-SAMAAAAA! YOU ARE OH SO HOTTTTTTTTT!" Tomoka and the rest of Echizen's fangirls screamed as he continued with the song.

"Tomo-chan…" Sakuno put a hand on her face, embarrassed for her friend.

Horio covered his ears from the ear-splitting screams. "That's it! I'm getting out of here!" he said, storming out of the room.

Momo sipped his orange juice. "That Echizen's showing off again."

"Ne, Momoshiro-kun," Ann smiled. "Why don't you go next?"

"Eh?" Momo scratched his head. "I don't really sing that well. Ahaha…"

A jealous Kamio shot a glare at the rascal. "Then don't let him sing, Ann-chan. This place is going back to dust if he does."

"What the f- what the heck's your problem, huh?" Momo growled.

"Your mere presence is my problem, Momoshiro." Kamio sneered.

"Then you shouldn't be here in the first place! "

"If it weren't for Ann-chan, I wouldn't be sticking to places where I could see your face, you wretched bike stealer!"

"For the millionth time, I did NOT steal your bike! I just borrowed it!" Momo then smirked. "AND… Ann-chan doesn't need _bodyguards.._ especially a lousy one like yourself!"

"Why you-"

"Guys, guys…" Ann-chan stepped in between them to avoid them from ripping each other apart. "Why don't we settle this in a _friendly_ karaoke match?"

The two boys flared up. "LET'S GET THIS ONNNNNNNN!"

oooooo

**[At the hotel swimming pool…]**

"Here goes nothing!" Eiji glided down the long, twirling slide. "WHEEEEEEEEEE!"

"Eiji, be careful!" Oishi yelled, his 'mother instincts' on the move.

A big splash came when Eiji hit the pool. He then emerged from underwater. "Nya!" the acrobat cutely said, making a "v" sign.

"And I thought cats hate water…" Oishi jested.

"I'm not an ordinary cat, nya! I love water!" Eiji squirted water on Oishi with a water gun. "Bleh!"

Oishi splashed Eiji in return. "Take that!"

"WHAT'S WITH THIS POOL MADNESS BABYYYYYY!" Kawamura in his burning mode jumped in the pool with a racket in his hand.

"Taka-san… how can you swim with your racket?" Eiji asked.

"NONSENSE! I CAN SWIM PERFECTLY!" Taka-san paddled with his racket, wetting the golden pair.

"Oi, oi, it's getting noisy here… na, Yuushi?" Gakuto, who was a few feet away from the seigaku regulars, complained.

"Yup." Oshitari agreed.

"Let's go somewhere else." Shishido suggested.

The trio were about to hoist themselves out of the pool when…

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING, HYOTEI BOYS?"

The three twitched. "It's none of your business, Kawamura." Oshitari said.

"YOU THREE ARE JOINING US IN A POOL FIGHT!" Taka-san said while grabbing Oishi and Eiji.

"Ehhh?"

"Oi, can somebody get Taka-san's racket away from him?" Oishi struggled to free from Taka's grip.

"I don't think anyone here could, Oishi…" Eiji sighed.

"SAA! LET THE GAMES BEGINNNNNNNN!" Taka-san waved his racket. "ALL PEOPLE IN THIS POOL ARE PARTICIPANTS!"

The other innocent students in the swimming pool cringed in fear.

"Can't you do anything to get him out of his hyper mode, Kikumaru?" Shishido irritably asked.

"Nope…" Eiji replied. "We'll just have to play along until he's tired…"

"Looks like we can't escape now…" Oshitari said.

"LET'S DO THIS, BABYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

All five of them sighed.

oooooo

[**At some random balcony in the hotel…]**

"Have you gotten enough rest, Tezuka?" Atobe asked, leaning on the railings.

"Yes." Tezuka closed his eyes as he continued to lie on the recliner.

A gentle wind blew against them. "Feels good, doesn't it?" Atobe said, his hair slightly swaying due to the breeze.

"Aa."

Atobe's attention was focused on the pool, which was floors below them. "I think Kawamura is going wild down there." He said, looking at Taka-san being held down by lifeguards as Oishi struggled to get the racket away from Taka's grip.

Tezuka stood up and looked at the scene. He made a mental note to tell Oishi to confiscate Kawamura's rackets for the time being.

The glass door behind them slid open. Atobe and Tezuka turned to see who it was.

"Having a reunion without us?" A certain Fudomine captain said.

Atobe smiled. "Tachibana. Sanada."

"It's been years since we have gathered like this." Tachibana said, sitting on one of the recliners.

"So, what was this important thing you were going to tell us?" The Rikkai emperor inquired.

"Don't be too excited Sanada, it's so unlike you. Besides, the whole gang isn't even here yet. Na, Kabaji?"

_**YOU'VE GOT MAIL.**_

Atobe pulled out his phone and read the message. He smirked as he showed it to the rest.

"From: Kabaji Munehiro. Message: USU."

The three sweatdropped. "Is Kabaji psychic or something?" Tachibana said.

_**YOU'VE GOT MAIL.**_

"Don't tell me it's from Kabaji again." Sanada said.

"Nope. It's from Sakaki-kantoku. He said the Jyosei people had arrived."

"Shall we go get them?" Tachibana said.

oooooo

**[Back at the entrance…]**

"I feel like a broken record but anyway, welcome." Atobe said, running a hand through his hair.

"Happy birthday." Kajimoto smiled. "I'm glad you didn't forget to invite me, Atobe."

"Thanks for the invitation, Atobe-kun. I sure am glad to be in this magnificent resort of yours." Hanamura chimed, stealing a glance at the Hyotei coach.

Atobe, catching the teeny-tiny detail, smirked. "I know, Hanamura-sensei." _I know you're __**so**__ glad to be in kantoku's arms once again._

"Oi! Atobe!" A familiar voice hollered from behind.

"Sengoku." Atobe muttered under his breath.

"Ya! It's been a long time!" The lucky vice-captain said, with two girls wrapped under his arm.

"Yes, I know." Atobe looked at the large group of girls chattering and giggling behind Sengoku. "Look's like you're going to surpass my popularity, ahh?"

"Nahhhh." Sengoku waved his hand. "I'm just lucky, that's all."

_**Brrrrrrrrrrt.**_

"Whose stomach was that?" Atobe asked.

Silence.

"Ja, it's about time that we had lunch." The king fished out his phone again and began to type a text message. After a few seconds, the sound of message alert tones resonated throughout the resort.

"Lunch is served, buffet style at the Mediterranean reception hall." Sengoku read aloud.

Atobe kept his smug look. "I shall go ahead."

Again, the sound of a stampede was heard.

* * *

A/N: And there goes the part one of my twist.. I hoped you all liked the idea of Yukimura being a real girl. She's the last one, though. :D

Part two of the twist will come up soon in the following chapters! I hoped you guys enjoyed reading! And please don't forget to drop off your reviews.. Your thoughts would mean a lot to me. :)


	5. Chapter 5

Summary: POT Headlines! Tezuka Kunimitsu, the stoic, expressionless and rocky captain is _finally_ rumored to be involved in a love triangle with the Seigaku Student Council Vice-Chairperson and the Hyotei Tennis Club Buchou Atobe Keigo! Full story inside. Editor-in-Chief: Mizuki Hajime

Main Pairings [with a twist]: OCxAtobexFujixTezuka, YukimuraxSanada

Minor pairings: to be revealed in the future… ^_^

Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns POT.

**Chapter 4: The Party, The Reunion and The Girlfriend**

**[At the Mediterranean Reception Hall]**

**VIP Table no. 1- Atobe, Tezuka, Sanada, Tachibana, Kajimoto, Sengoku, Fuji, Yukimura**

"It's so… tropical." Sengoku said, looking around the place.

"There are even live toucans here." Kajimoto pointed at the orange-billed birds perching on the branches of a tree.

"I love our spot! It's overlooking the sea…" Yukimura said, facing the huge glass window.

"KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Atobe-sama is so sweeeeeeett!"

Kajimoto raised his brow as he turned to see what the ruckus was all about. "What did you do this time, Atobe?"

Atobe discreetly pointed at the table labeled, 'ORE-SAMA'S FANGIRLS' and shrugged. "Saa…"

"Why didn't you group your guests by teams?" Tezuka asked.

Atobe smiled. "I want my guests to _socialize_ with each other." He said in a suspiciously happy tone.

Tezuka shrugged it off and turned to the their table. His eyes widened as he saw the name "Fuji" plastered on one of the chairs. Fuji, who was across Tezuka, flashed a sadistic smile as she went to her respective seat beside Atobe. The Hyotei king smiled at the girl and put his arm around her. Tezuka, who was watching the whole scene didn't know if he should be scared, nervous or angry. But, one thing's for sure. He was dumbfounded.

"Oi, Tezuka. Aren't you going to sit down?"

Tezuka didn't say a word and sat down. He quietly listened to the conversation going on.

"Gaaahhh… It's been a long time, hasn't it?" Sengoku said.

"Yeah… I miss our chuugakusei days, Sen-kun…" Fuji said.

"Who doesn't?" Sengoku said, munching on a chicken drumstick.

Tezuka wondered silently. '_Chuugakusei days?'_

"Now that we're **ALL** captains, we wouldn't have much time to do what we usually do… Na, Sengoku?" Atobe teased.

Sengoku pulled a face. "Heeey, I'm also a captain! It only has the word VICE before it!"

Everyone except Tezuka and Sanada laughed.

"Oh yeah, do you guys remember the time when we were playing in the sandy playground?" Yukimura chimed in.

_[Flashback- grade school days, third grade.]_

"_Ne, give my pretty rock back!" the little shusumi yelled._

"_Nuh-uh!" A certain orange-haired boy said, blocking the pretty little girl from obtaining her precious stone._

"_Sen-kun… please?" Shusumi tried to reach her rock._

"_It's my lucky day today 'coz I found this nice, shiny rock!"_

"_If you want, I'll share that with you… just give me my rock back…"_

"_Nope."_

_Shusumi gave up. She grabbed her mini bucket and shovel and sulked under the big, plastic slide. She sniffled to avoid tears from rushing down. _

"_Ne, Sumi-chan… what happened?" A cute blue-haired girl asked._

"_Sei-chan…" Shusumi sniffled as she looked up, teary-eyed. "Sen-kun wouldn't give me back my rock…"_

"_Really?" a young Seira bent down and caressed her friend's back. "It's okay…" you'll find a prettier rock than that…"_

"_Seira-chan. What happened to Shusumi?" the little Keigo asked._

_The girl looked at her friend. "Sen-kun was bothering her."_

"_Oh?" Keigo shot daggers at the little Sengoku. "I'll teach him that bullying my friends is a no-no."_

_Keigo then stormed to Sengoku's direction. "Oi, tropicana."_

"_Huh? Who's Tropicana?"_

"_You're the only orange head here, duh." Keigo snapped. "Give that rock back to shusumi."_

_Sengoku held the rock closer to him. "No."_

"_If you won't give that back to her, I'll tell my Otousama to kick you out of __**my**__ school." The boy said, smiling a devilish grin._

"_Che. Unlucky…." Sengoku sighed and handed him the rock. "Here."_

"_Now, say sorry to her." Keigo demanded._

_Sengoku rolled his eyes and went to Shusumi. "Ne, shu. Sorry."_

_Shusumi smiled. "It's okay, Sen-kun… Let's just share stuff the next time, 'kay?" she extended her hand as a sign of making up._

_Sengoku nodded and shook her hand. "Un!"_

_[End of flashback]_

Sengoku chuckled as he was chewing his food. "I wasn't that bad before!"

"Oh yes you were, _Tropicana…_" Yukimura teased.

"Naw, c'mon you guys… forget that name, will 'ya? I'm not a brand of juice…"

"I was the one who named you that, if my memory serves me right." Atobe said, sipping his pina colada.

"Back then, you were into bullying girls and now… you're a certified girl magnet." Kajimoto said.

Sengoku flashed a cheshire grin. "I'm just lucky, I tell you."

Tezuka listened to their story in puzzlement, wondering why the others knew about Fuji during elementary and he didn't. He went to the same school with them so he should have known.

Atobe turned to Tezuka. "Hey, Tezuka. Remember our first serious match ever?"

_[Flashback-grade school days, fifth grade]_

_40-0! Advantage to Tezuka!_

"_Damn it!" Keigo cursed, sweating all over. _

_The chibi Tezuka Kunimitsu calmly looked at his opponent on the opposite side and served the ball._

"_He's good, isn't he?" the little Takahisa, one of the spectators commented._

"_Yeah. The likes of Sanada even lost to him." The little Kippei said. The chibi Genichiro, who stood beside him, glared at the latter._

"_What?" Kippei said. "I'm just saying the truth…"_

"_You didn't have to rub it in my face." Genichiro snapped._

"_Don't be a sour loser, Genichiro. Sometimes, people win and sometimes they lose." Kippei said. _

"_Tch." Genichiro held the metal screen surrounding the court, practically glowering at the boy with glasses. "I'll never lose to you next time…"_

_Deuce!_

"_You're really good, Tezuka."_

_Tezuka kept a straight face. "Thanks."_

_Keigo smirked. "I'll beat you someday."_

"_But first, beat me now. If you can."_

"_Tch. You're getting cocky, eh?" Atobe then served the ball._

_And so, the match became one of the best ranking matches in the elementary circuit that ever occurred._

_[End of flashback]_

"You were so much like that ichinen brat back then, Tezuka." Atobe said.

"Yeah." Kajimoto agreed. "I think that Echizen will grow up to be like you."

At the other table, Echizen sneezed.

"Next topic, please." Tezuka said, a vein appearing on his head.

Fuji grinned. "I doubt if Tezuka still remembers this but here it goes…"

_[Flashback- grade school days, fourth grade]_

"_Really? You're the vice-president of your class? That's great, Sei-chan!" Shusumi said, drinking her cup of juice._

"_Mm-hmm! I'm really glad my classmates voted for me." Seira cheerfully said._

"_Then? Who's your president?" _

_Seira grinned. "Make a wild guess."_

_Shusumi took a sip. "Genichiro."_

"_Bingo."_

"_As expected…" Shusumi said. She continued to walk forward until…_

_BAM!_

"_Gomen!" The girl bowed her head, not even looking at the person she bumped into._

"_I don't accept your apology." The person said in a stern manner. "You've stained my clothes with juice."_

_Shusumi looked up and she was surprised with what she saw. "Wh—I'm so sorry, Tezuka-iinchou!"_

"_Iinchou? You mean he's your class president?" Seira asked. _

_Shusumi nodded. She then turned to the snobbish boy. "I'm really sorry…"_

_Tezuka walked past them and didn't say a word. _

"_Why did you choose a person like him?" Seira asked as she helped her friend wipe the spilled juice. _

"_He won the votes of all the girls in my class…" Shusumi said._

"_Oh."_

"_I'll let this pass, Sei-chan…" Shusumi grinned. "….for now."_

_[End of flashback]_

"Oh?" Atobe's brow arched. "Tezuka did that to you?"

Fuji nodded. "Yeah…" She looked at the others with puppy-dog eyes.

Tezuka was dumbfounded again. He remembered now. He remembered the reason why the girl got in his nerves every time he saw her face. It was because of a single, tiny mistake from their childhood. It wasn't like him to bear grudges but ever since that event, Fuji had always bothered him, except during the time when she moved to Chiba for a while. But during their first year in middle school, they were put in the same class again and so, Tezuka thought kami was cursing him.

"You were a snobbish bad boy back then, huh, Tezuka?" Sengoku said.

"I do not know what you're talking about." Tezuka sternly said.

Yukimura smiled. "I was there, Tezuka… you can't deny it anymore…"

Tezuka sighed and remained silent.

"Atobe, as far as I had remembered, you and Shu have always been close, right?" Sengoku asked, changing the topic.

"Yeah. Why?"

Sengoku smirked. "Are you two finally together?"

Tezuka quickly averted his gaze to the two aforementioned people. He silently wished that Atobe would say no because if the opposite happened, he will definitely conclude that Kami was truly cursing him.

Fuji and Atobe looked at each other. "What a question. Of course we are." Atobe started. "We've been together for almost three years now."

Tezuka was shocked that he couldn't speak. '_I knew it…'_

"She's the girl I've telling you about." Atobe spoke to Tezuka softly. Tezuka was still too astounded to speak.

"You're so cold, Shusumi! You didn't even tell me…" Yukimura pouted.

Fuji sheepishly grinned. "Hehe… sorry."

"My predictions about you two never went wrong…" Kajimoto turned to Atobe. "You were always affectionate to Shusumi here so I thought you two might end up together."

Tachibana nodded. "Yeah."

"Tezuka?" Yukimura turned to the buchou. "You've been silent for a while. Is there anything wrong?"

Tezuka was snapped from his astonishment. "Yes. I'm perfectly fine."

"How about the other set of lovebirds?" Sengoku said, looking at Yukimura and Sanada's direction.

Yukimura was puzzled. "Huh? There is?"

Sanada cleared his throat. "He's talking about _us,_ Seira."

"Oh…" Yukimura sweatdropped and grinned. "We're just super close friends… like this!" she winded up her middle finger and index finger.

"Ouuuch." Sengoku muttered to himself, knowing that Sanada had his eyes on Yukimura.

"Oh well. I expected you two to be together by now though." Tachibana said. "I noticed Sanada has always been taken to—"

"**AHERRRRM.**" Sanada cleared his throat loud enough to overlap Tachibana's voice.

"You need water?" Yukimura offered him a glass of water.

Sanada accepted the drink. "Thank you."

The Yamabuki ace rolled his eyes. "Seira. Are you really clueless or are you just pretending to be?" he said to himself.

"Oh yeah, Keigo. What was that important thing you were babbling about?" Fuji asked.

"Ah, I forgot about that." Atobe said. "There are two things, actually."

_**Bzzzz… bzzzz…**_

"Hold on a sec." Fuji took out her phone and read the message. "Yuuta and the St. Rudolph people are coming… along with Mizuki." The tone of her voice dropped upon saying Mizuki's name. "Say Keigo, did you invite _him_?"

Atobe looked at her quizzically. "Who?"

"The Rudolphian guy who almost broke my brother's arm…"

"No." Atobe said. "I know he's going to invite himself so I didn't bother to send him an invitation. He'd find ways to get in my party anyway."

"Oh." Fuji said grimly.

"And the important thing you were saying?" Kajimoto went back to the topic.

"Right." Atobe took a deep breath. "The first thing is, I'm leaving for Paris next week to attend my Aunt's wedding and to take care of our businesses there."

"How long will you be gone?" Sanada inquired.

"One month, the most." The Hyotei king said. "And second…"

All of the people in the table waited for Atobe to speak.

"I'm sorry if I say this bluntly but Shusumi, you're going to pretend to be Tezuka's girlfriend for that span of time."

All of their mouths (except for Tezuka's) gaped open. "What?" Fuji finally blurted out.

"Tezuka's grandfather declared to him yesterday morning that he's going to engage Tezuka to the granddaughter of his good friend in Europe. To escape that fate, I told Tezuka that since I will be leaving, I'll leave you to his care and at the same time, you'll help him get through his grandfather by pretending to be his girlfriend." Atobe said, almost in one breath.

Silence.

"Wait. Let me take in all of this." Fuji let out a deep sigh. "Okay. So for short, Tezuka needs my help."

"Yes."

Fuji's grin was back. "Okay, fine. I'm willing to abide." _This is more torture time for Tezuka… haha._

"See, Tezuka? I told you, it'd be perfect." Atobe said.

"Aa." Tezuka was still sulking [although not obvious] in his seat. He did not want to believe that Fuji was the unlucky girl Atobe chose and is still the same girl who will pretend to be his girlfriend. He sighed, knowing that starting that moment, things are going to get ominous for him.

000000000

**VIP Table no. 2- Kirihara, Ann, Momo, Kamio, Sakuno, Echizen**

"Ne, Kirihara, why is your nose all red?" Ann asked, entertaining her curiosity.

"He's your enemy and yet you're concerned for him." Momo commented.

"In fairness with him Momoshiro, we're not enemies anymore… True, he has a rotten attitude but it's automatic for me to be concerned about the welfare of others…" Ann defended.

Kirihara, who couldn't say anything, blushed at Ann's statement. On the other hand, Kamio sent a sharp stare at the elf and then at Momo. "I knew it Momoshiro. You're hiding a heartless demon who doesn't care even for the enemies." He said, trying to impress Ann with his '_kindness'._

"Speak for yourself, Kamio." Momo rolled his eyes. "If looks could kill, Kirihara would have been liquidized moments ago."

"ARGH! If you want Tachibana's attention, go find a crab and pinch your noses with it!" He finally snapped after getting pissed enough while listening to the conversation. "If you're happy that way, I'm not! Damn you and those frickin' crabs to hell!"

Ann sighed, wondering if there was a way to shut those three up.

"Ne… senpai-tachi…" Sakuno shyly tried of mediate in the fight.

"You better give up on doing that, Ryuzaki." Echizen advised as he held Sakuno's hand from under the table. "They'll never listen to you. They're useless role models anyway."

Sakuno blushed intensely as she felt a light squeeze on her hand. "O-okay."

Ann watched the currently bickering sophomores. "Guys…" Her eyebrow twitched. "Guys! Darn it…"

The three turned to her.

"Momoshiro, Kamio, why don't you let Kirihara join in the continuation of your _friendly_ singing battle later… just to at _least_ turn your fights into something productive."

"Suuuuure." Momo and Kamio glared at Kirihara with fiery rage. "Why not?"

0000000000

**VIP Table no. 3- Niou, Yagyuu, Jackal, Marui, Oishi, Eiji, Shinji, Ishida**

The eight of them just watched and listened to the bickering sophomores at the adjacent table.

"Who do you think is going to win the younger Tachibana's heart?" Niou asked, a sly smile plastered on his face.

"That's a killer question, Niou…" Marui said. "I think the girl's going to end up with Akaya."

"With his attitude right now, I don't think so." Yagyuu opposed.

"In that case, Tachibana-san is going to end up with Momo-chin!" Eiji cheerfully said.

"Momo is a good guy after all…" Oishi added.

"No. Ann-chan is going to end up with Kamio." Ishida piped in.

"True. Kamio and Ann-chan have known each other longer compared to the other two. They're genuinely close and moreover, Tachibana-san and the tennis team trust Kamio. I bet Kirihara and Momoshiro wouldn't have anything to say to their closeness. Ann-chan and Kamio are practically best friends. And oh yeah, I forgot about the chemistry. I think the three of them look good with Ann-chan… but Kamio's better because I know him better than the others…."

Marui and the others sweatdropped as they listened to the rest of Shinji's ramblings. "Oi, oi."

0000000000000

**VIP Table no. 4- Oshitari, Shishido, Kanami, Choutaro, Gakuto, Kabaji**

The people on this table practically didn't care about what's happening around them. They were engrossed in talking about tennis and other related stuff.

"Thinking about Seigaku really gets into my nerves… especially Kikumaru." Gakuto said.

"You're just jealous because he's a better acrobat than you are." Shishido taunted.

"He is NOT better than me, Shishido. I'm one step above that annoying cat-like person!"

"You still have a lot of chances to win against Kikumaru-san next time so don't worry, Mukahi-senpai…" Kana said to ease out the tension between Shishido and Gakuto.

Gakuto smiled at Kana and stuck his tongue out at Shishido. "You're such a useless teammate. You're supposed to be encouraging your other teammates and here you go praising the other team."

"Three words, Gakuto. I. don't. care." Shishido hissed.

"Tch." Gakuto rolled his eyes and turned to Oshitari. "Yuushi, say something."

"What would you like me to say?" Oshitari dabbed the corner of his mouth with a table napkin.

The redhead grunted. "MOU!"

"Mou…" Oshitari mimicked his doubles partner. Gakuto got fed up so he opted to keep silent instead.

"Ne, Kanami-san…" Choutaro started. "During the times you were watching us play, what moves or playing styles did you come to like?"

"Hmmm… lemme think…" Kanami put her hand under her chin while the others were starting to divert their attention to the girl.

"Hmm. I hate to admit it, but really love aniki's uh… whatchamacallit move… Higuma something."

"Higuma otoshi." Oshitari corrected.

"Yeah, that." Kana sheepishly grinned. "Um… Atobe-san's tannhaüser serve and of course, Choutaro-kun's amazing scud serve."

Choutaro blushed slightly. "Umm…what else?"

"Uhh… Mukahi-senpai's moon salute and…"

Gakuto's expression brightened. "And?"

"The playing style I love the most is…" She paused, a slight tint of pink creeping on her cheeks. She knew that, of course so she pretended to drop her table napkin and bent down to pick it up. "Sorry 'bout that." She smiled and continued. "The playing style I adore the most is Shishido-senpai's.

Shishido was flattered. "Eh… really, Kana-chan?"

"Un!" Kana said. "Your play is so simple but straightforward. I mean, not literally. But… gahhh. You know what I really mean, ne?" She scratched her head.

"Uh… I think so." Shishido said, still puzzled with what the girl really meant.

Choutaro stole a glance at Kana and then looked down. '_Could it be…?'_

Shishido also accidentally stole a glance at his doubles partner. He saw 'the look' on Choutaro's face. _'Oh no.'_

Oshitari, who was quite oblivious to the brewing 'love story' of all time—I mean, in the table, continued to eat his pasta. "Delicioso, na, Kabaji?"

"Usu."

**VIP Table no. 5- Kaidoh, Tomoka, Kawamura, the ichinen trio, Akutsu, Dan Taichi**

"Mou!" Tomoka screamed. "Why couldn't I sit beside Ryoma-sama? Damn the person who assigned this seat to me to the pits of hell."

Horio looked at Tomoka in an 'oh-so-high-and-mighty' way. "Why look for Echizen when this great man with two years tennis experience is right within your reach?"

"You're not even a man yet…" Tomo muttered to herself.

"Two years of tennis experience, desu ka?" Dan asked, his eyes glittering with interest. "You must be really good, desu!"

"Of course I am! I'm Seigaku's future, if you should know!" Horio declared.

"I better get more data on you, desu!" Dan said, scribbling some notes on his notebook.

"Ne, Dan-kun." Katsuo whispered. "Don't believe in any word he says."

"Why?"

Kachiro leaned closer to Dan's ear. "Because if you're going to get data about him, all your efforts are just going to waste. Two years of tennis experience? More like two years of tennis un-experience…"

Dan stopped writing as looked at Horio. "Oh."

Horio put his hand on his waist. "Oi! Are you going to take my data or not?"

"Uhhh…"

"Oi, Kawamura." Akutsu gruffly said.

"Yeah?" Kawamura glanced at his childhood friend.

"That stupid brattling is getting into my nerves. Can you shut him up before I kill him?"

Kawamura scratched his head. "Ahaha… He's really like that so just bear with him for a while…"

"Tch. One more word from him and I'm really going to kick his ass outta this place." Akutsu then sipped some juice.

Kawamura sighed in relief. At least Akutsu listened to him.

Horio continued on boasting about how good he was and how Seigaku can't live without his mighty presence. Kawamura was getting a little annoyed but with his patience on par with Oishi's, he acted as if he didn't hear anything. A few moments later, a racket, which came from who knows where was handed to Kawamura. And then, the world went blank. [just kidding.]

"BUUUUURNING!" Kawamura yelled, garnering the attention of all the people in the hall.

(At the other table..)

"Who gave Taka-san that damned racket?" Oishi angrily said.

(back to Taka-san's table…)

"KID WITH TWO YEARS OF TENNIS EXPERIENCE!" He said, pointing the racket at Horio.

"Me?"

"YES YOU!"

"What is it?"

"SHUT UP! TWO YEARS OF TENNIS EXPERIENCE! HAHHH! RIDICULOUS!" Kawamura swished his racket.

Katsuo and Kachiro were about to get hit but they ducked and the racket hit Tomoka instead. Due to the impact, the glass of water she was holding was spilled on her shirt.

"Kawamura-senpai… if it weren't for the fact that you're my senpai, I would have HIT you right now, damn you." Tomo angrily cursed.

Kaidoh, who was already VERY pissed, slammed his fist on the table. "FSSSSSHHHUUU! SHUT THE HELL UP YOU $#*&%$ PEOPLE!"

Kawamura dropped the racket in surprise. "Eh?"

Akutsu grumpily stood up. "I'm leaving this –toot-ing place."

Katsuo and Kachiro let out a sigh of relief. Horio was frozen like a rock, still too traumatized by Kawamura.

Kaidoh sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry senpai. I had to do that."

Kawamura patted the viper's shoulder. "It's okay, Kaidoh… I should thank you for saving me from embarrassment…"

Kaidoh then turned to the girl beside him, who looked like a wet duck. He gruffly handed a table napkin to her. "Here."

Tomoka didn't know if she'd get angry or be happy at Kaidoh's 'kindness'. She accepted the table napkin anyway. "Thanks, senpai."

0000000000000

**VIP TABLE no. 6- Sakaki, Hanamura, Ryuzaki-sensei, Banji**

In this table, the four of them were busy doing their own thing as if the Kawamura scandal never happened.

"Aww… that's just so sweet, Tarou…" Hanamura giggled as she read the love quote/pick-up line on Sakaki's phone.

Sakaki smiled. "There's more, Aoi…" He then scrolled down and read his other messages.

Banji looked at the sweet couple and grinned. "If cellular phones were invented in our time, I would have gained your affections Ryuzaki-sensei…"

Ryuzaki just rolled her eyes and ignored the old man's antics.

"But, it's never too late… Ne, Sumire?"

Ryuzaki finally glared at him. "Don't you Sumire me!" the hag snapped. "And besides, you're _way_ older than me."

"I may be way older than you but you've also aged, Sumire… no one could even tell the age difference…."

"BAKAMONGA!" Ryuzaki tried to hit Banji in the face but then, it missed so she hit Sakaki instead. The result: Sakaki accidentally _kissed_ his dear Hanamura in the lips. Sakaki was kind of light-headed after the incident.

"Wow. A mere kiss already made you dizzy… what will happen if I do more than that…? Will you finally faint?" Hanamura teased, still positioned under Sakaki.

"You'll faint before I do, Aoi…"

[NEXT SCENE CENSORED- PARENTAL GUIDANCE IS RECOMMENDED… ^_^]

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**VIP Table no. 7- Shinjou, Wakato, Inui, Yanagi, Hiyoshi, Taki, Minami**

"Kantoku and Hanamura-sensei does have chemistry, don't you think, Hiyo-kun?" Taki asked Hiyoshi.

"Yes, I think they do." Hiyoshi said. "But wouldn't that be a distraction to him? I mean, he's the coach."

"More like inspiration…" The spiky-haired Yamabuki captain said. "After a few days, expect your coach to be 'blooming'…"

"Oh." Hiyoshi and Taki chorused.

"Hyotei people, don't you think it's fun to spy on our coaches? Maybe late at night, they'd go somewhere else and—"

"You're thinking dirty, Wakato-san." Hiyoshi interjected.

"I was about to say eat, dang it." Wakato mumbled to himself.

"Hm. I think there's a 100 percent possibility that their relationship will work out." Inui suddenly said.

"Yes, I agree. There's also a 95.786574 percent that Hyotei will improve due to Sakaki-sensei's _inspired_ leadership and a 99.923332 percent that the same thing goes with Hanamura-sensei." Renji seconded.

"There's a 90.00 percent that they will get married within the next two years…"

"And a 80.7777 percent that they will quit being coaches in order to peacefully live together."

"On the other hand, there's a 99.9999999 percent that a certain someone will surely, definitely and absolutely kill Sakaki-sensei if all the above mentioned data will take action." Inui finally said.

Then, all the people on that table went silent as they turned to a flaring Shinjou, who was already dying to get the said Hyotei coach to the hands of death.

00000000000000

**[Mediterranean hall entrance]**

"We've finally arrived, Yuuta-kun…." Mizuki said, twirling his bangs. "Now… where is Atobe seated…"

"Over there, Mizuki-senpai." A purple-haired girl with black-rimmed oval glasses pointed to the table nearest to the window.

"Can we just go find our table, Mizuki-san? We're really hungry…" Yuuta pointed to his other companions behind him.

"No. We should announce our presence to the host, you know." Mizuki said, dragging Yuuta to Atobe's table. The rest of the St. Rudolph guests followed.

"So. He's here." Fuji said sourly upon seeing the team manager of St. Rudolph approach them.

"Long time, no see, Atobe." Mizuki greeted. "Happy birthday by the way. Here's your present." Mizuki presented a _very_ large box carried by his bodyguards. It was covered with a purple giftwrapper designed with roses and tied with a red ribbon. "I purposely made that grand just for you."

Atobe displayed an arrogant look. "Of course it should be. Those who came to my party, invited or_**not,**_ should be polite enough to give Ore-sama his birthday present."

"Tch." Mizuki folded his arms. "At least, I came with a gift."

Sengoku leaned to Kajimoto. "How can you not come to this party without a gift when there's a big _billboard_ plastered on the resort entrance saying, 'Ore-sama gladly welcomes your **presence** and **presents'**?" He whispered to the Jyosei captain, who nodded in agreement.

Atobe then turned to one of the Kisarazu twins standing beside Mizuki. "Kisarazu Ryo, you're from Rokkaku, right? I thought Rokkaku couldn't come because of an important school event."

"Hai. But I excused myself from because I heard that St. Rudolph would be here and I wanted to take the opportunity to be with Atushi. It has been quite a long time since I saw him." Ryo explained, a tad embarrassed.

"How sentimental." Atobe said.

Ryou sweatdropped and handed a big sack-like bag (something like Santa's Christmas bag) to Atobe. "The Rokkaku tennis team extends their greetings to you."

"Give them my thanks." Atobe accepted the bag and put it aside.

Fuji turned to her brother. "It's also been a while since we saw each other, ne, Yuuta?" she said, opening her arms to her younger brother. "Why don't you give me a hug?"

Yuuta looked at her in disgust. "Hug yourself, stupid onee-san."

"Aww." Fuji faked a sob. "Is that a way to treat your older sister?"

"If you're that sister, then yes."

Fuji glanced at the pretty bespectacled girl beside her brother. "It seems that you have found yourself a girlfriend, Yuuta…" she teased.

Yuuta and the girl exchanged looks. "What are you talking about? She's just one of my close friends in class!"

The girl bowed her head. "I'm Takeouji Yuri. It's nice to meet you, Fuji-san."

"I'm also pleased to meet you, Takeouji-chan." Fuji then grinned. "So, aren't you going to eat lunch? The food is almost running out."

"Oh yes, thank you for reminding us Fuji-san…" Mizuki said as Fuji snobbishly averted her gaze to somewhere else, purposely showing Mizuki that she was not talking to him.

"Your table is over there, Mizuki, so suit yourselves." Atobe said, pointing to the table labeled 'LATE COMERS'. He then stood up. "I'll be going somewhere so if you'll excuse me."

Tezuka also stood up. "I'll excuse myself as well." He then followed Atobe outside.

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**[At the men's restroom]**

"So. I've said everything that should be said, Tezuka." Atobe opened the faucet and washed his hands. "It's up to you on how you should arrange your meetings and other necessities. She'll be just following your lead."

"Hm." Tezuka let the water flow on his hands. "But why did you…" He paused, finding the right choice of words. "Why did you choose Fuji?"

"I didn't choose her. My heart did." Atobe said, putting his hands under the automatic hand dryer.

Tezuka fell silent, pondering on what the thing called 'love' has done that even a self-absorbed person like his friend managed to love another person greater than himself.

"Tezuka." Atobe said, opening the door. "Take care of her for me until I get back."

Tezuka closed the faucet. "Hm."

The door closed as Atobe stepped outside. Now he felt satisfied and relieved that the love of his life is in good hands.


End file.
